On G List of Movie Reviews

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Goodbye Lover (1998)

Rate: 6
Viewed: 2/16

2/16: Goodbye Lover was going well until Don Johnson dropped out and Ellen DeGeneres entered the picture.

Then, it's all downhill from there. The multiple red herrings have done me in, too. Although the story is not bad, it's mostly gimmicky, tacky, and manipulative, reminding me of Wild Things but in a bad way. It's a surprise to me that Roland Joffé decided to take on this project considering he directed The Killing Fields and The Mission. He would do one more film two years later and then was never the same again.

Patricia Arquette is fun, recapturing the same mojo from True Romance. She is great with Don Johnson, but they don't spend much time together. When I thought it was going to be another The Hot Spot for him, why did they have to kill off his character so early? Dermot Mulroney is unlike himself as compared to his past films and does a good job of being hip. Vincent Gallo's uncredited cameo is a nice treat.

Whoever initially thought Ellen DeGeneres had star potential should be taken to the woodshed. She's so fucking unbearable that the sight of her face makes me want to turn off the TV immediately. To be forced to put up with Ellen DeGeneres' character for an hour is asking too much from me.

All in all, Goodbye Lover would have worked out well if Don Johnson had stayed on longer with Ellen DeGeneres out of the picture.

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